The highest point in Lazio: The highest point in Lazio is the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, about 35 miles due east of Rome.
Usually you cannot see the mountain from Rome, as it is too cloudy.
But today the air in Rome was so clear — perhaps as clear as I have ever seen it, following days of rain washing the atmosphere — that Mentorella was visible from St. Peter’s Square (see below)
The clearest day: It was such a clear day in Rome today that the mountain where the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella was built almost 2,000 years ago was visible from St. Peter’s Square. Mentorella is that blue mountain in the far distance in the middle of the picture above, at the end of via della Conciliazione. I have only seen the shrine on one or two other occasions, and, I think, never as clearly as today
From the Square to the Shrine: The distance from St. Peter’s Square to the Shrine of Mentorella in 56.5 kilometers, almost exactly 35 miles. It was so clear in Rome this morning that the shrine could be seen from St. Peter’s Square — a clear day like today is so very rare… that it prompted me to write this letter
The Christmas tree today: Today in St. Peter’s Square cranes were lifting up and steadying the Christmas tree, which will be lit on December 7. There has been some controversy over the tree, about 100 feet tall, which was cut near Trent in northern Italy and brought to Rome. The tree will remain on display until Sunday, January 12. (link)
A few days ago: Despite an online petition posted to change.org in mid-October that garnered over 53,000 signatures in protest of the evergreen to be used for the Vatican Christmas tree being chopped down, the tree arrived as scheduled in St. Peter’s Square at 7 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2024. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA (link)
Above, Mentorella in the distance…
“This is a place in which man opens to God in a special way. A place far from everything, but at the same time close to nature. I have come to sing the Magnificat.” —St. Pope John Paul II
“Here, the bones of the Benedictines are awaiting the resurrection.” —Andreas Thonhauser of EWTN in a March 25, 2024 article about Mentorella (link)
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” ― T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding, The Four Quartets
“You are not here to verify,
instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
or carry report. You are here to kneel
where prayer has been valid.
And prayer is more than an order of words,
the conscious occupation of the praying mind,
or the sound of the voice praying.”
― T. S. Eliot, Ibid.
***
Letter #55, 2024, Saturday, November 23: Mentorella
I traveled only once to Mentorella.
It was on October 26, 2003.
So, 21 years ago, and four weeks.
I only traveled there once, yet Mentorella became decisive for my soul.
That is why, this morning… a clear, crisp morning in Rome after days of rain… this morning, as I walked toward Cardinal Francis Arinze‘s apartment to ask him about his recent trip to Nigeria, where he once was bishop (he is still traveling though he is now 92)… and looked up… from St. Peter’s Square toward via della Conciliazione… I glimpsed a blue curve in the distance, and caught my breath, and said: “It’s Mentorella.”
The air was so crisp and clear it seemed pure crystal.
And Mentorella was there.
Though I had lost sight of it for a long time, it was just in front of me, visible again.
But it is not of my pilgrimage to Mentorella that I wish to speak, but of the pilgrimages made to Mentorella by Pope John Paul II, now St. John Paul II, and by Pope Benedict XVI.
For both John Paul II and Benedict XVI, not long after their elections to the papal throne — John Paul in 1978, Benedict in 2005 — made pilrgimages to… Mentorella…
***
Concerning Pope John Paul II:
The Pope loved this place very much …
July 28, 2022
By Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi (a Polish woman married to a Swiss Guard who has lived in Vatican City)
I remember it was December 27th.
Much snow had fallen in Mentorella.
This did not prevent us to not go to the sanctuary.
The Pope loved such escapades.
He really felt at home there, like in his Polish Tatras.
It was not easy – it is high and steep there – but we put the chains on the wheels and it worked.
The moment we arrived, Father Jan was shoveling snow from the narrow passage to the very entrance of the church.
There was literally a wall of snow around.
When he saw the car approaching, he began to shout louder and louder: “No way, road closed!”
He didn’t even notice that the Pope was sitting inside.
I stuck my head out the window and said that it was the Holy Father who had come, and then John Paul II also leaned out on the other side of the car and asked in a low voice: “Well, Father John, won’t you let us in?”
Only then did he see who we had brought, he grabbed his head and everyone laughed loudly.
The Pope loved that place very dearly … He was there already during his studies, then, when he was a priest, bishop and cardinal, he always returned there.
It was his beloved refuge.
—Excerpted from Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi, “It happened in the Vatican,” Znak Publishing House. Krwho Magdalena aków 2020, pages: 160-161 (link)
***
Here is a piece from 11 years ago (2013) which explains a bit more about Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi:
Behind the Walls: What It’s Like to Live Inside the Vatican, for a Woman (link)
By Alina Mrowinska, Gazeta Wyborcza, Feb. 26, 2013
VATICAN CITY–There are exactly 13 families living in Vatican City. It’s a small group indeed, as just a few of the employees of the Holy See have a right to live “behind the walls.”
Among those who have access to the apartments in Vatican territory are select members of papal Swiss Guard, the chief gardener of Vatican City, who lives with his wife and children in a small house around the gardens, as well as the Holy See’s head electrician and his family. One of the electrician’s daughters, it turns out, just got married, and thus lost her right to live in Vatican City.
Only half of the less than 1000 residents of Vatican City (the world’s smallest city-state) have citizenship: mainly members of the Church’s diplomatic corps or papal nuncio. The others hold temporary residential rights to live on Vatican land.
We spoke with Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi, the Polish wife of a Swiss Guard. She is a Polish-Italian and Polish-Latin translator, working mainly for the Vatican legal entities, the Sacred Roman Rota and Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. She also works on some projects for Polish TV.
What follows is the portrait she paints of life in one of the world’s most protected addresses, about to again face the glare of the global media as the Church begins the process of choosing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI:
Living in Vatican City, a small community, is probably the same as living in a little village. One difference is the security, with everybody observed, every corner monitored, gendarmerie at the gates. They watch when you come and go.
Ten years ago, there were two women from South America, three from Switzerland, a few Italians and two from Poland (native country of Pope John Paul II). Now, there are mainly Italians.
The Italian writer Oriana Fallaci once said that Vatican City is a “male terrarium.” Some of the prelates probably wonder why there are these families of the guardsmen circulating about. Here, women barely exist —and certainly play no significant role. Not so long ago, women couldn’t open their own bank account in Vatican City.
Still, the few women who do live here say they feel neither humiliated nor ignored, and they understand centuries-old traditions. Pope Benedict XVI, like John Paul II, always made a point of highlighting women’s value. Benedict had a female assistant (even before he became a Pope), named Ingrid Stampa, who edited all of his speeches, articles and books. She is still his confidential advisor.
There are about 30 women who have Vatican City citizenship, including a military officer, a science teacher at a Roman high school, a kindergarten teacher, and an academic. Once a month they go out together to a restaurant in Rome, some make candles and wreathes during the period of Advent and decorate Easter eggs.
They go to church for a mass not only on Sundays but also on other liturgic festivals. All of the masses in Swiss Guard chapel are celebrated in four languages: Latin, Italian, German and French.
(…)
Women obtain citizenship automatically after getting married, but for all it lasts only for the duration of their stay.
Residents of Vatican City have access to use furniture from a Vatican warehouse that includes some objects that deceased Popes and cardinals once used. There are no taxes, and residents have access to duty-free shopping, including luxury brands like Prada, Valentino or Armani. Most residents go shopping “abroad” to Rome as well since food is very expensive in Vatican City.
There are no beauty specialists or hairdressers, but there is a gym and a fitness coach. A gas station is much cheaper than those in Rome.
Still, life inside the walls has its drawbacks. Residents must get home before midnight because all the gates are closed. If someone arrives later, one must call the intercom and guardsmen take their names. Likewise, if someone invites guests, they generally have to leave before midnight as well.
There is a widely accepted code of dressing, where uncovered knees and arms and low necklines are frowned upon. Of course, women who live inside the Vatican are allowed to walk in a short dress in Rome, but would have to change before coming back home.
(…)
To marry a guardsmen, you must be a baptized Catholic — and a regular church-goer. You also need to have confirmation from a bishop of corresponding diocese and a certificate of conduct from a parish priest. Also, a certificate of good behavior is needed. When all the papers are ready, they need to be handed into a Vatican’s office.
Generally speaking, a woman living in Vatican City can feel happy and secure, if at times a bit lonely in this “man’s world.” But it’s not eternal: when a guardsman turns 40, he must retire; and that means he has to move out from Vatican City with his family. Back to “real life,” outside the walls.
***
Concerning the Mentorella shrine:
The Marian Shrine of Mentorella: Where Popes and Saints Pray
By Andreas Thonhauser
EWTN Vatican, March 25, 2024 (link)
“This place, hidden among the mountains, has particularly fascinated me,” Saint John Paul II said, speaking about Mentorella.
“From it,” he continued, “one’s eyes can range over and admire the magnificent view of the Italian landscape.”
“This is a place in which man opens to God in a special way,” the Pope explained. “A place where, far from everything, but also at the same time close to nature, one can speak confidentially to God himself.
“One feels within one what man’s personal call is,” he highlighted. That “man must glorify God the Creator and Redeemer; become the voice of the whole of creation in order to say, in its name, ‘Magnificat.'”
The Pope exhorted that man, “must announce the ‘magnalia Dei,’ the great works of God.”
In this address from October 1978, Saint Pope John Paul II marveled not only at the beauty of Mentorella, an old Marian Shrine located in the mountains at the gates of Rome but also explained how this particular shrine helped him pray and deepen his relationship with the divine.
The Pope delivered this testimony in Mentorella just two weeks after his election.
In fact, on clear days, one can even see the mountain range from the main portal of St Peter’s Basilica.
Before his election, when he had dealings in Rome, Karol Wojtylaoften came here to retreat into silence and spend days and nights in prayer—more than 3000 feet above sea level. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, also visited the abbey in the mountains in 2005.
Saint John Paul II was not the first saint to come pray in this place, often compared to an eagle’s nest.
During the time of Emperor Hadrian, who died in 138, Roman General Placidus was hunting on this mountain.
He is said to have had a miraculous vision of Christ between the antlers of the stag he was pursuing. He converted to Christianity and became known as Saint Eustace.
Two centuries later, Emperor Constantine built a church on the spot of the Saint’s conversion.
Dedicated to the Mother of God, Pope Sylvester I consecrated it sometime before 335.
However, the early Christian martyr Saint Eustace is not the only Saint associated with the Mentorella.
Not far from the cliff on which the shrine is built lies Subiaco. There, Saint Benedict of Nursia founded the Benedictine Order and wrote his famous Rule.
Mentorella is said to be one of the 12 monasteries Saint Benedict founded in this region before leaving for Montecassino.
Right next to the church is a cave.
Here, the Saint is said to have lived for two years.
Benedict taught his monks to keep death daily before their eyes in order to live without complacency.
In front of the caves are skulls and bones of the Benedictine brothers who have lived here as hermits over the centuries.
The inscription reads: I am the life and resurrection. Be reminded: what you are, we were. What we are, you will be.
Here, the bones of the Benedictines are awaiting the resurrection.
This truly is a place where man opens to God in a special way, as Pope Saint John Paul II said, a place where one can speak confidentially to God himself.
PILGRIMAGE TO THE MARIAN SHRINE OF MENTORELLA
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II
29 October 1978
From the opening of the Second Vatican Council, I have had the opportunity of staying in Rome several times, both for the work of the Council and for other tasks entrusted to me by Pope Paul VI.
On the occasion of these stays in Rome, I have often visited the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mentorella.
This place, hidden among the mountains, has particularly fascinated me. From it, one’s eyes can range over and admire the magnificent view of the Italian landscape.
I came here again a few days before the last Conclave.
And if today I have wished to return, it is for various reasons, which I will set forth now.
First, however, I want to apologize to my collaborators, to the local administration and to those who arranged this flight, for having given them additional trouble with my arrival. At the same time I greet cordially all the inhabitants of neighbouring Guadagnolo, and all those who have gathered here from other localities nearby. I greet the custodians of this sanctuary, the Polish Fathers of the Resurrection and also the clergy of the surrounding districts with their bishop, Mons. Guglielmo Giaquinta.
We read in the Gospel of St Luke that Mary, after the Annunciation, went to the hill country to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth.
When she arrived at Ain-Karin, she put her whole soul into the words of the canticle which the Church recalls every day in Vespers: “Magnificat anima mea Dominum“—”My soul magnifies the Lord”.
I wanted to come here, among these mountains, to sing the “Magnificat” in Mary’s footsteps.
This is a place in which man opens to God in a special way.
A place where, far from everything, but also at the same time close to nature, one can speak confidentially to God himself.
One feels within one what is man’s personal call.
And man must glorify God the Creator and Redeemer; he must, in some way, become the voice of the whole of creation in order to say, in its name, “Magnificat“.
He must announce the “magnalia Dei“, the great works of God, and, at the same time, express himself in this sublime relationship with God, because in the visible world only he can do so.
During my stays in Rome, this place helped me a great deal to pray.
And that is another reason why I wanted to come here today.
Prayer, which expresses in various ways man’s relationship with the living God, is also the first task and almost the first announcement of the Pope, just as it is the first condition of his service in the Church and in the world.
During these few days that have passed since 16 October, I have had the fortune to hear, from the mouths of authoritative persons, words which confirm the spiritual awakening of modern man.
These words—and that is significant—were spoken mainly by lay people who fill high offices in the political life of various nations and peoples.
They spoke often of the needs of the human spirit, which are not inferior to those of the body.
At the same time they indicated the Church, in the first place, as capable of satisfying these needs.
Let what I say now be a first humble reply to everything I have heard: the Church prays, the Church wishes to pray, she wants to be in the service of the most simple, and at the same time splendid, gift of the human spirit, which is realized in prayer.
Prayer is, in fact, the first expression of man’s interior truth, the first condition of true freedom of the spirit.
The Church prays and wishes to pray in order to listen to the interior voice of the divine Spirit, so that he himself, in us and with us, may speak with the sighs, too deep for words, of the whole of creation.
The Church prays, and wishes to pray, to meet the needs in the depths of man, who is sometimes so restricted and limited by the conditions and circumstances of everyday life, by everything that is temporary, by weakness, sin, discouragement and by a life that seems meaningless. Prayer gives a meaning to the whole of life, at every moment, in every circumstance.
Therefore the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ on earth, wishes in the first place to unite with all those who strain towards union with Christ in prayer, wherever they may be: as a Bedouin in the steppe, or the Carmelites or Cistercians in deep enclosure, or the sick on a hospital bed in the sufferings of the death agony, or a person in activity, in the fullness of life, or oppressed and humiliated individuals … everywhere.
The Mother of Christ went to the hills to say her “Magnificat“.
May the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit accept the Pope’s prayer in this sanctuary and grant the gifts of the Spirit to all those who pray.
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